Making teen driving safer

Some teen drivers won't like Attorney General Anne Milgram's latest step to improve highway safety. Everyone else should be grateful.

Milgram plugged a loophole that allowed young drivers to keep probationary licenses despite speeding or other infractions that should have brought them a suspension or at least a trip to a driver improvement class. Now inexperienced drivers will no longer be able to plea-bargain an infraction to a "no points" offense.

New Jersey's graduated driver's license program requires that probationary drivers who get three or more motor vehicle points be sent to a driver safety class.

If they skip the class or continue to get tickets, their driving privilege is suspended or their eligibility to get a full license, with no restrictions on driving hours or ability to carry passengers, is postponed. More experienced drivers don't face sanctions until they accumulate more points.

Accident statistics show why it is important to treat new drivers differently from experienced ones. Teen drivers make up 5 percent of the driving population but account for 12 percent of accidents. From 2001 to 2006, some 400 teens were killed in motor vehicle accidents. Cracking down early on careless or reckless behavior by young drivers saves lives.

Ending the plea-bargain loophole was one of a number of recommendations from the state's Teen Driving Study Commission following a horrendous accident that killed three Freehold high school students in 2007. Milgram was able to make this change on her own.

But other important reforms proposed by the commission will require changing state law, such as requiring teens with learner's permits or provisional licenses to display a special decal or placard.

The placard measure is especially needed. Police now find it difficult or impossible to tell whether the driver of a car loaded with passengers is a 17-year-old with a provisional license or an 18-year-old with full driving privileges.

Milgram has made a good start on improving teen driving safety. Gov. Jon Corzine and the Legislature should accelerate the effort.